Medford Conversations’ mission is to include and actively engage a multiplicity of voices in our community. Through conversations, the project hopes to encourage people to create and act on visions for a sustainable, just, and thriving Medford.​The City of Medford is amidst deep shifts. Development plans inside and outside its borders portend cost of living pressures on low and moderate income residents and possible displacement by gentrification: two new Green Line stations; the Wynn Casino in Everett; a 500 bed luxury hotel in Station Landing; Somerville’s Assembly Square spillover affecting Wellington Circle, Station Landing and River’s Edge; the Langwood Commons development in Stoneham impinging on bordering neighborhoods and the Middlesex Fells. Demographically, the ‘traditional’ white working and middle class make up of Irish and Italian ancestry is being joined by increasing numbers of more recent immigrant groups; currently there are 65 ‘birth countries’ other than the US represented by youth in the public high school. The City and State’s oldest historically black community in West Medford has seen its core population decline for many years and the pace is quickening. Unbeknownst to most residents, the City is undertaking climate adaptation projects to increase the flow capacity of sewers and of dams and bridges in anticipation of increased precipitation due to climate disruption; similar projects are underway in bordering upstream towns like Winchester and Woburn. Municipal agencies, hospitals and health providers, and ‘first responders’ are joined in planning efforts with neighboring towns to increase capacity for emergency preparedness and disaster management in view of potential extreme weather events. Perhaps the most unique change is in the political landscape of the City’s administration, where in January 2016 a new mayor was installed for the first time in 28 years along with several newcomers to both the City Council and School Committee.​In anticipation of this unfolding and dynamic scenario, the Medford Conversations (MC) project is being developed to systematically increase democratic deliberation by City residents and diverse stakeholders for appropriate civic responses. MC is a collaboration of multiple Tufts academic units and faculty, Medford municipal offices and, faith communities, community groups and business organizations. Medford Conversations will engage a series of deliberative discussions among City residents, workers, and students beginning in 2016. Small group conversations will follow an alternating pattern of public discussions. Both launching and concluding public events are envisioned. A multiple year implementation is projected, with the generative themes for discussion being chosen by the ongoing participants. Considered as an intervention to deepen residents’ understanding of the various forces impacting daily life and future socioeconomic relations, civic groups and municipal offices are particularly concerned with promoting fairness and well being for all members of the city.